How exciting is Seattle?

I'm a Seattle native - born and raised on the mean streets of Ballard - and there are a lot of words and phrases I can think of to describe my city:

- Beautiful

- Spectacular waterfront

- Interesting variety

- Politically crazed

There is one word that would never come to mind when describing Seattle:

- Exciting

I have never thought of this as an exciting city. When I travel around the country, I am struck by how much more energizing other cities seem to be. I can think of at least a dozen cities I would consider to be far more "exciting" than Seattle.

Which is why I thought this list by real estate website movato.com was crazed - they listed Seattle as the fourth-most exciting city in the country. Even crazier, they listed Oakland as #1 - I was in Oakland last year - it ain't in the top 50.

But I'm certain Seattle isn't in the top four. They had us ahead of New York City, Chicago and Las Vegas??? I love Seattle, but there's no way we're more exciting than those cities.

Movato said their rankings are based on:
Park acreage per person
Percent of population between 20 and 34 years old
Fast food restaurants per square mile (the fewer the better)
Bars per square mile
Big box stores per square mile (the fewer the better)
Population diversity
Movie theaters per square mile
Museums per square mile
Theater companies per square mile
Music venues per square mile

What do you think? Is Seattle an exciting city? What cities would you rank ahead of ours?

About the Author

Dori Monson
Dori Monson is host of The Dori Monson Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays Noon-3) and the pre-game and post-game host for the Seattle Seahawks Radio Network. There are three words that Dori thinks best describe him - competitive, competitive and competitive.